Hiko's Getting Soft
by Queen Emily the Diligent
Summary: One-shot. Hiko pays a visit to the dojo. Only rated T because Hiko swears. Shame on him!


**QED: Mesa back!**

**Yahiko: Uh…why are you talking like that…?**

**QED: /incredulous/ Because it's fun? Duh!**

**Yahiko: And why am I the one who's always here talking with you?**

**QED: /hand under chin/ Well, I guess because I like arguing with you, because it reminds me of my brother. Remember, I'm similar Kaoru thanks to the RK character test! My brother got you!**

**Yahiko: /grins, smirking/ You homesick? Away at college too long? Aww… Poor QED**

**QED: I'm actually not, but I do love my family. Oh, in this little story, HIKO STARS! I LOVE HIM! (except that he swears sometimes. Ugh!)**

**Sano: Why him? He's so freaking arrogant!**

**QED: And you're not?**

**Sano: /muttering/ Shut up…**

**QED: /screams like a maniac/ I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!**

It was a bright summer day at the Kamiya Dojo, and to little six-year-old Himura Kenji, the day could not get any better. His father's master was coming to visit!

"Kenji, Hiko-san won't be here for a while, so come inside and help your father get lunch ready," his mother, Himura Kaoru, called.

"Hai, Kaa-san!"

oOo

Hiko Seijuro the 13th master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu sighed, shaking his head. He was becoming soft in his old age/fifty years. _I'm not that old, _he grumbled to himself. …_Ok…I'm getting there. _He smirked; he was getting soft if he was arguing with himself about his own age! He never thought he'd be traveling all the way from Kyoto to Tokyo to visit his baka deshi and his family. Yes, he was getting soft. Yet, something told him that it hadn't begun recently but had started many years before.

_"Shishou! That hurt!" a ten-year-old Himura Kenshin complained, rubbing a sore spot on his head from one of his master's hits._

_ "Stop complaining, baka deshi!" Hiko barked. "Now get up and attack!" _

_ Kenshin frowned, his bottom lip puckering out, and stood. Then, he jumped into the air about to attack with the Ryu Tsui Sen. "AAAHH!" he cried, rushing down at his master._

_ Hiko easily sidestepped, and Kenshin landed flat on his face. Hiko couldn't help but smile at the picture his student made. Kenshin was head first in the dirt, his arms and legs stuck every which way. _

_ "You forgot about landing, baka!" _

_ No response._

_ The tall man crouched down to where Kenshin was and hit him lightly. "Hey, Kenshin, get up!" Still no response. Hiko felt a twinge of worry. He rolled Kenshin over to find his pupil unconscious. "Baka," he muttered. "Of course you'd faint on me. Well, it's almost nightfall anyways."_

_ Hiko slung Kenshin's unconscious body over his shoulder and made his way to small hut that lay not far from the training site. Arriving at the hut, Hiko set Kenshin down on the boy's futon and tucked him in beneath the covers. Kenshin suddenly groaned, and Hiko smirked, standing._

_ As he turned to leave his deshi to sleep, something tugged at his cloak. Hiko looked down to that Kenshin had in his sleep somehow latched his hand to the hem of his white cape. Hiko shook his head irritably but could not stop the slight smile that appeared on his face. He knelt down to remove the boy's hand, but as he did so, Kenshin murmured something._

_ "Otou-san." _

_ Hiko froze, as Kenshin clung tighter to his cloak, inching toward his master. _

He DID NOT say what I thought he said,_ Hiko declared in denial._

_ "Otou-san." This time it was softer, like as if the boy was about to break. "Don't leave."_

_ Hiko stared at the unconscious boy, his heart beating rapidly inside his chest. His expression of shock turned into one of slight sympathy. "I guess you're not going to give it up, baka," he said._

_ Pushing his pride aside, the 13__th__ master of the Hiten Mitsirugi Ryuu sat down beside his student, telling himself that he would leave before Kenshin awoke. _

_ "Don't count on this happening again, baka."_

Hiko shook his head at the memory. Yes, he had already started becoming soft with his baka deshi. _But I still enjoy calling him that,_ he thought smirking.

He looked up to see the dojo gates standing in front of him. He could sense the ki's of the people who resided within. He smirked again and knocked.

The door opened to reveal a small, redheaded boy. _He looks so much his father that sometimes I'm brought back more than twenty years ago._

"Hiko-ojii-san!" Kenji squealed, throwing his arms around Hiko's legs. "What took you so long?"

Hiko knelt down and smiled at the boy, ruffling his red hair. "Gomen, Kenji. The damn train got help up."

Kenji laughed and mimicked Hiko. "The damn train!"

"HIMURA KENJI!"

Both Hiko and Kenji winced, turning to see an angry Himura Kaoru, with arms crossed and tapping her foot in irritancy.

"What did you say, young man?"

Kenji gulped, trying to think of an excuse. Suddenly, he lifted his finger and pointed it at their visitor. "Hiko-ojii-san said it too!"

Hiko's eyes widened at the boy's statement. "Why are you blaming me, boy?"

Kaoru turned to her husband's master and glared at him. Hiko flinched slightly, knowing her rage was even worse than when Kenshin became Battousai.

"Gomen nasai, Kaoru-san," he said with all the dignity he could muster.

"Thank you but if I hear you saying such things around Kenji again, even _your_ skills won't stop me." With that, Kaoru's whole expression changed and she smiled. "Anyway, welcome Hiko-san. Kenshin has some food prepared."

"Hai," Hiko swallowed. _So this is the woman who keeps my baka deshi in shape._

"Kaa-san can be scary, that she can," Kenji said, mimicking his father's speech pattern.

"Well then, we'd better do as she says. Right, Kenji?" Hiko swung the boy onto his shoulders.

"Yatta!" he squealed in delight.

The two made their way to house to see Kenshin with one-year-old Kaori.

"Konwaban, Shishou," greeted Kenshin. "It's good to see you, that it is. Lunch is ready, if you'll join us in the dining room, if you please."

Hiko gave a smirk. "It's your cooking. Am I right?"

Kenshin gave a sheepish smile. "Hai, that it is."

Hiko, with Kenji still on his shoulders, walked into the house. "Good, because I think I'd die if I had to eat the tanuki's cooking. OW!"

"Don't make fun of my cooking! You've already irritated me once in the course of five minutes, so you'd better stop! I'll kick you out of this house, if you continue!"

"Maa, maa," Kenshin said, trying to calm his wife.

"Be quiet, Kenshin!" Kaoru smacked her husband on the head, and he fell to the floor, but managed to keep Kaori in his arms.

"Oroooo."

"Kaa-san, don't kick Hiko-ojii-san out!" Kenji protested. "I want him to stay."

Kaoru softened, and Hiko gave a slight smirk. _I win._

"All right, but only if Hiko-san behaves. Now, sit down, and Kenshin, get up!"

oOo

Lunch went along smoothly, if you don't count Hiko calling Kenshin "baka deshi", and Kaoru hitting Hiko for doing so.

"I have a present for you, Kenji," said Hiko, after lunch was finished.

"Hontou?" Kenji asked.

"Hai." Hiko reached into his cloak and pulled out a wooden bokken.

Kenji gasped in surprise and took it from Hiko. "It's heavy," he stated.

"That's because the center is made of lead," Hiko informed. "It will give a more powerful swing."

"Look, Tou-san, Kaa-san, it has my name on it!" He was right, for on the hilt of the bokken was etched the kanji of Kenji's name.

"It is a very good bokken, that it is," Kenshin observed.

"Of course it is," Hiko stated, in his famous arrogant tone. "A swordsman like myself would never pick something cheap."

"Thank you, Hiko-ojii-san!" Kenji cried, giving the huge swordsman a hug. "Can I go try it out, Tou-san?"

"All right, Kenji-chan."

Kenji did not need another word and ran out the yard and began practicing his katas with his new bokken.

Kaoru had to smile. Hiko may not look like he cared, but he did just the same. "I'm going to put Kaori down for her nap. I'll be back in a bit."

When Kaoru was gone, Kenshin turned to his master. "Shishou, this one thanks you again for the gift, that he does."

Hiko waved his hand. "It's nothing, baka deshi." Kenshin smiled sheepishly at the nick-name. "The boy needs a honest sword to learn with."

"Hai, but this one is worried that he will want to go to a katana, that he is."

Hiko looked his apprentice and sighed. "You really are a baka deshi and worry too much. Teach the boy. He has talent, a kind I haven't seen in a long time. I know you don't want to teach him Hiten Mitsurugi, but your wife's style won't satisfy him. At least teach him your katas. It will give him a challenge.

"The boy looks up to you, Kenshin. He wants to be like you."

Kenshin scowled. "I never want him to be like me."

Hiko raised his eyebrows at Kenshin's use of "I". _I really am becoming soft._

BAM! "Baka."

Kenshin held his pounding head, as he looked up at his master in confusion for the hit.

"Kenji sees the man you are now. _That_ is who he wants to become." Hiko rolled his eyes, standing to his feet. "Sometimes I wonder if you have brain at all."

Kenshin bowed his head. "Arigato, Shishou."

"Don't thank me, baka deshi. Do I have to hit you again? Just live your life and be happy with your family." With that, Hiko went out to help Kenji in his katas.

"Still, Shishou…Arigato."

**Well? What do you think? I wanted to show Hiko's soft side. He really does care about his "baka deshi," he'll just never admit it. **


End file.
